Speak Now

Chapter 4: I used to adore you

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

☆☆☆☆

When school ends and I head to my bike, hands in my hoodie pockets, I see Tristan waiting for me.

I pause, wondering if I should wait for him to leave but his eyes catch mine and I curse.

"Hey" he says, as I stop, a solid distance of five feet between him and I. When I don't respond, he pulls out something from his pocket.

"You dropped this"

He holds a tiny butterfly shaped hair pin, embedded with tiny gems bordering the wings. My father's last gift.

I'm still staring at it, wondering how I'd gone a whole day without its presence soothing me, like the earth's gravitational field holds the tides against the moon.

My lucky charm.

"Madeley?"
My full name startles me and I look at him. He's watching me curiously, like I'm a strange object he hasn't ever seen before.

I reach out and take it,"Thanks" I manage, but he still looks at me like expecting something more.

"It's pretty" he observes,"I think you wore it to my birthday party when we were seven."

I'm suddenly pulled back to the time when I went to birthday parties and laughed and talked, like a child with no worries and no monsters to face in recurring nightmares.

I do remember Tristan's birthday though. Our fathers had reached some collaborative project and so while they drank toasts, me and Tristan had talked the night away in his blue Spiderman tent.

And so I smile, in memory of the child I had once been, for the friendships I could've still held onto.

"No, that one wore out long ago" I say,"My dad used to gift me this every year."

Tristan nods, and then leans on my bike,"You used to adore it, I remember. You used to pretend it was a magical item from a kingdom in a fairytale, that you went to bizarre places at night."

I'm surprised he still remembers those times, and I say so.

"You were unforgettable" He laughs. The sunlight sets his eyes ablaze, and it's so pretty I look away before it gets awkward,"I used to adore you. You were the most interesting girl I've ever met."

My face warms, and I look down at my feet.

"Tristan!"

I wince as Camilla, Samantha and a few girls step towards us. Tristan turns to say hi, as Samantha puts her arms around his neck and kisses him passionately.

I'm stuck between rolling my eyes and laughing at Tristan's obvious discomfort as he pulls away.

"Was this girl bothering you, Tristan dear?" Camilla asks, her eyes glaring at me from behind her dark sunglasses.

"Tristan is MY boyfriend" Samantha announces as she puts her arm through his, smirking at me,"Who're you anyways?"

"Madeley Prince" Camilla rolls my name over her tongue slowly, clearly to be unpleasant.

I feel panic seep into me as the girls stare at me, giggling and smirking, like I was an animal at a zoo doing something stupid.

"Relax Sam" Tristan interrupts,"I was just giving her back something she dropped."

"Oh" Samantha giggles,"Okay. I trust you. She doesn't seem your type anyways."

Tristan turns to look at me, and I stare back, willing him to disappear with his bodyguards. I am not easily intimidated by a pack of overprotective girls, but the fact that my words don't get out terrifies me.